Proper English

I don't think I can really review this book right now in any way that will be helpful to other readers, because I loved it so much. When it comes out in paperback, I'll probably buy a copy just so I can literally draw hearts in the margins.

I was in a major book slump before I started this. For the past few months, I've been rereading all my old favorites, while picking up a lot of new books, then eventually setting them aside. But I couldn't tear myself away from this. It's just what I needed.

Okay, let's see, what's absolutely essential to know? Pat and Fen cuddle while trying to solve a mystery, and it's a good mystery plot. Also, you could read this without reading Think of England. I would call them companion novels rather than two books in a series, but there are a lot of clever parallels between them.

Anyway, if you have any interest in this book, definitely read it, and cherish it, just like these two cherish each other. Well, now I'm metaphorically drawing hearts in the margins of this review.

I read this in about two days - like my placeholder review said, it's Edwardian-era lesbians in a country-house murder mystery, which is several different flavors of my catnip all rolled into one. This isn't five stars only because the plots are really separate and I wish they'd been more intertwined; as it is, this is almost like two books in one, first the romance and then the murder mystery, especially since no one turns up dead until over halfway through the book. I just wish there'd been more slow burn on the romance and maybe a little more mystery to the mystery - though I really liked Pat, Fen, and Bill teaming up to solve it, it was all wrapped up pretty quickly. All that aside, though, this was such a fun book to read and I've thoroughly enjoyed my little three-book detour into KJ Charles. I'll definitely be reading more from her in the future!

3.5 starsI enjoyed this! It was a quick and charming sapphic romance story that was easy to go through.I really liked both Pat and Fen—the main character and love interest of the story, respectively. They both definitely have contrasting personalities but they complement one another so well; Pat and Fen brought out the best in one another.While this can definitely be read as a standalone, it can also be considered the prequel to [b:Think of England 34715257 Think of England (England World, #2) K.J. Charles https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1490705360l/34715257.SY75.jpg 40168913] as Pat and Fen make an appearance in that book as side characters in a relationship. In this story, we go back in time ever so slightly to see how Pat and Fen came around to know each other.I didn't quite care for the murder mystery plot that comes to fruition later on in this story. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it, but I just didn't care for it as much as I did with the crime and/or murder mystery plots of K.J. Charles' other books that I've read so far. But with that said, I'd definitely still recommend this book.